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American Sign Language (ASL), like any other language, allows you to communicate your feelings. You can sign about how that movie made you sad or how seeing your Deaf friend made you happy: Angry: Make the open-5 hand shape, palm toward your face, and pull your hand away from your face, scrunching up your fingers.

Signing one-word questions in American Sign Language (ASL) is a way to initiate small talk, get to know people, and gather information. When you sign these one-word questions, look inquisitive; the facial expression will come naturally when you are genuinely interested. Also, tilt your head and lean forward a little as you sign the question.

Learning the manual alphabet in American Sign Language (ASL) will help you when you don’t know a sign as you begin communicating. If you don’t know the sign for something, you need to use the manual alphabet to spell the word, or fingerspell. Check out and practice the manual alphabet:Note: If you need to fingerspell a word that has two letters that are the same, make a small bounce between the letters or simply slide the repeated letter over slightly.

In American Sign Language (ASL), knowing how to sign the cardinal (counting) numbers helps you in everyday situations like banking and making appointments. Pay attention to the way your palm faces when you sign numbers. For 1 through 5, your palm should face yourself. For 6 though 9, your palm should face out toward the person who’s reading the sign.

As you become more confident in your ability to communicate through American Sign Language (ASL) and begin to meet Deaf acquaintances and form friendships, keep some simple etiquette do’s and don’ts in mind.Do’s To get a Deaf person’s attention, tap him or her on the shoulder or flick the light switch. Let a Deaf person know that you can hear and that you’re learning Sign.

Practice signing these basic expressions in American Sign Language (ASL) to meet and greet people, join in on conversations, answer questions, and be polite and courteous.

Whether you're going to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner with friends who use American Sign Language (ASL), you need to know a few signs about your meal. And don't forget to thank your host or hostess with the appropriate sign! Signing breakfast-related words and phrases You sign "breakfast" by signing "morning meal.

Shopping made simple — that’s what you’ll find when you do it in American Sign Language (ASL). After you know how to sign the store you want to visit and the deals you're looking for, the rest is a breeze. Signing specialty stores Everyone at one time or another goes to market. You’ll be the guru of shopping when using the signs in this table.

In English, you sometimes form words that compare by adding endings, such as “est” or “er.” In American Sign Language (ASL), you can't really sign comparatives and superlatives. For example, greatest is signed simply as GREAT, and happier is signed HAPPY. However, you can compare objects another way, using sign.